One for All

Unified messaging has long been in the experimental phase. Now a global solution is in the works.

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Voice mail, e-mail, faxes, cell phones, pagers, and instant-messaging tools may be convenient, but they can also create chaos. Managing all those numbers can be a maddening task. But a new communications tool aims to bring order with ease.

Enter Enum, a unique twist on the unified-messaging concept developed by Patrik Falstrom, a Swedish engineer for Cisco Systems. Enum lets users each access all their devices through a single contact number and prioritize and route their calls. For example, your business associates could be sent to one number, while telemarketers could go to an e-mail address you never check.

The service translates a telephone number into an Internet address; for example, the phone number 1-212-555-1234 becomes 4.3.2.1.5.5.5.2.1.2.1.e164.arpa. And because it can help route various messages to one place, Enum is similar to unified-messaging services such as those offered by Onebox.com and Microsoft, which is developing unified messaging as part of its .NET initiative. But Enum is a global service and requires global standards.

Although Enum has garnered wide support, it has also sparked debate over who should oversee such a global service. On one side are companies such as NeuStar, which controls the master list of telephone numbers for the U.S. and supports a standards-based system run by one government-regulated authority. If there is no one authority in control, NeuStar charges, then contact numbers might become difficult to authenticate. Taking a different stance is VeriSign, a distributor of Web site addresses, which supports the managing of Enum by a variety of private companies.

Tony Rutkowski, VeriSign vice president for Internet strategy, says that the argument for one regulation authority simply doesn't wash. "This is a DNS service that should be provided competitively in the marketplace, just like traditional Internet and phone services," he says. "Top-down government regulations seem a bit odd, but we'd be happy to bid on government contracts, and we'd probably win."

Matthew Wald, a NeuStar vice president, expects Enum to be available on an opt-in basis by late next year. "If it's done properly, Enum will have tremendous benefits," says Wald. He adds that Enum's operating costs are only one-fifth those of a traditional voice network. "But if it's done poorly, this could have dire consequences for the industry."

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